N-EWN has launched a variety of educational initiatives, including the development of university EWN-focused courses, curricula and certificate programs that develop integrated problem solving, social-ecological-technical systems thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration skills.
Goals of N-EWN Education Curriculum
Competencies
Integrated problem-solving competency: Leaving students with the ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex resilience problems, with a focus on viable, inclusive and equitable solutions
Systems-thinking competency: The ability to recognize and understand relationships, analyze complex systems, to understand systems at different scales
Collaboration competency: Empathetic leadership, the ability to learn from others, to understand and respect the needs and perspectives of others, to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solve
Strategic thinking competency: The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability and resilience; Supporting a paradigm shift to promoting interdisciplinary systems education
Critical thinking competency: The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; The ability to reflect on one’s one values, perceptions and actions
Skills
Ability to leverage full array of NI options, alone or in combination with traditional project objectives
Full understanding of the NI design process, and ability to pass knowledge to designers, practitioners and future workforce
Awareness of benefits of NI and need for combination of green and gray infrastructure
Ability to communicate benefits of NI to both broad and specific audiences
